medicine

/ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n/

//ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"medicine" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“medicine” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,908. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,908
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way; a pharmaceutical drug.

Corpus desk

Index EN-medicine · medicine · English

medicine · rank #1,908 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,908
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH likes

Nearest frequency peer: likes (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “medicine”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “medicine” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

medicine vs Medici
63% similar
medicine vs medicare
75% similar
medicine vs medicinal
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for medicine
PropertyValue
Headwordmedicine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n/
Letters8
Frequency rank#1,908
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “medicine”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).medicinelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “likes” (#1,907), “mention” (#1,909), “lies” (#1,906). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “medicine” is #1,908. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around medicine (IPA /ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,908 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for medicine, with forms such as "emdicine", "mdeicine", and "medciine". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Medici", "medicare", "medicinal", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English medicin, from Middle French medicine, from Old French medecine, from Latin medicīna (“the healing art, medicine, a physician's shop, a remedy, medicine”), feminine of medicīnus (“of or belonging to physic or surgery, or to a physician or… The correct English form is medicine, spelled M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way; a pharmaceutical drug.
  2. 2
    Any treatment or cure.
  3. 3
    The study of the cause, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease or illness.
  4. 4
    The profession and practice of physicians, including surgeons.
  5. 5
    The profession and practice of physicians, including surgeons.
  6. 6
    The profession and practice of physicians, including surgeons.
  7. 7
    Ritual magic used, as by a medicine man, to promote a desired outcome in healing, hunting, or warfare; traditional medicine.
  8. 8
    Among the Native Americans, any object supposed to give control over natural or magical forces, to act as a protective charm, or to cause healing.
  9. 9
    Black magic, superstition.
  10. 10
    A philter or love potion.
  11. 11
    A physician.
  12. 12
    Recreational drugs, especially alcoholic drinks.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how medicine appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This medicine has fewer adverse effects than others in its drug class.
  2. Using a weekly pill organizer is a good way to help remind yourself to take your medicine each day, and it also tells you whether you already took today's pills (it's not unusual to forget doing a habitual task)!

Etymology

From Middle English medicin, from Middle French medicine, from Old French medecine, from Latin medicīna (“the healing art, medicine, a physician's shop, a remedy, medicine”), feminine of medicīnus (“of or belonging to physic or surgery, or to a physician or surgeon”), from medicus (“a physician, surgeon”). The extended sense of "Indigenous magic" is a calque of Ojibwe mashkiki (“medicine”) or mide (or cognates in related languages) when used in compounds such as Grand Medicine Society, medicine lodge, medicine dance, medicine bag, medicine wheel, medicine man, Medicine Line, and bad medicine or place names such as Medicine Hat, Medicine Creek, etc.

Synonyms

drugprescriptionpharmaceuticalelixirregimencourseprogramprescriptionhealth caremedicine

This word in other languages

medicamento(Español)médicament(Français)Arznei(Deutsch)remédio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emdicine
  • mdeicine
  • medciine
  • meddicine
  • mediccine
  • medicien
  • medicinne
  • medicnie
  • mediicne
  • meidcine
  • mmedicine

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of medicine - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

emdicine2mdeicine2medciine2meddicine1mediccine1medicien2medicinne1medicnie2
Edit distance from "medicine"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "medicine"?
"medicine" is spelled M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n/.
What does "medicine" mean?
As a noun, "medicine" means: A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way; a pharmaceutical drug.
What words are commonly confused with "medicine"?
"medicine" is commonly confused with "Medici", "medicare", "medicinal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "medicine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "medicine" is /ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "medicine"?
From Middle English medicin, from Middle French medicine, from Old French medecine, from Latin medicīna (“the healing art, medicine, a physician's shop, a remedy, medicine”), feminine of medicīnus (“of or belonging to physic or surgery, or to a ph... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "medicine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mountain#1,910presence#1,914reaction#1,915audience#1,888

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

mention11 variantsSpanish11 variantsvictory11 variantsclothes11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list